What is CVE-2026-72042?

CVE-2026-72042 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 6.1.157 onward and patched in 6.18.40, 7.1.5 and 7.2. CVE-2026-72042 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-72042?

CVE-2026-72042 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-72042?

Yes, CVE-2026-72042 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.40, 7.1.5 and 7.2. If you are running Linux kernel 6.1.157 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-72042 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-72042 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2026-72042

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipmi: Fix user refcount underflow in event delivery ipmi_alloc_recv_msg(user) takes the temporary user reference owned by the receive message, and ipmi_free_recv_msg() drops it again. If event delivery fails after allocating receive messages for earlier users, handle_read_event_rsp() rolls those messages back with ipmi_free_recv_msg(). That rollback path still drops user->refcount explicitly after freeing each message. The extra put can free a user that remains linked on intf->users, so later event delivery may dereference a freed user or trip refcount_t's addition-on-zero warning when ipmi_alloc_recv_msg() tries to acquire another reference. Remove the stale explicit put and the now-dead user assignment. Keep the list_del() and ipmi_free_recv_msg() calls; they are the required rollback operations.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-08-15

Last modified 2026-08-17

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

7.8

out of 10

High

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.1.157, 6.6.113, 6.12.54, 6.17.4, 6.18 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.1.157 ≥ 6.6.113 ≥ 6.12.54 ≥ 6.17.4 ≥ 6.18

Fixed in

✓ 6.18.40 6.18.x ✓ 7.1.5 7.1.x ✓ 7.2

References

3 total

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-72042

Severity High

CVSS score 7.8 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-08-15

Modified 2026-08-17

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-72042?

CVE-2026-72042 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.1.157 onward and has been patched in 6.18.40, 7.1.5 and 7.2. CVE-2026-72042 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-72042?

CVE-2026-72042 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-72042?

Yes. CVE-2026-72042 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.40, 7.1.5 and 7.2. If you are running Linux kernel 6.1.157 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-72042 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2026-72042 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.